Mandy Dawson Arrested Again -- for a Little More Than Prescription Pill Fraud This Time

Remember that $87,000 former State Sen. Mandy Dawson allegedly received from ophthalmologist-turned-felon Alan Mendelsohn between 2003 and 2006? That investigation finally landed her a trip to jail yesterday.

Dawson was hit with federal tax-evasion charges yesterday in her first arrest since she was caught forging an oxycodone prescription in '02.

Dawson, a Broward County Democrat, was indicted by a grand jury for allegedly cheating on her taxes, one way or another, for each year between 2004 and 2008.

The source of her extra cash, GOP fundraiser/eye doc Mendelsohn, is currently serving a four-year prison sentence he started in June after he pleaded guilty to a single count of conspiracy for trying to hide said $82,000 -- and an additional $600,000 -- from the government.

Mendelsohn had been speaking to the feds in his attempt to avoid prison time, although sentencing recommendations from prosecutors stated that the statute of limitations had expired on many of the crimes he alleged.

Dawson's indictment comes as part of a Department of Justice investigation that's been alive for around five years, although the feds' contact with Dawson was first reported by the Sun-Sentinel in October of 2009.

According to the Miami Herald, the grand jury charged that Dawson, who turned 55 on Monday, shorted the IRS $11,889 in 2004 and $12,966 in 2005. For 2006 through 2009, the grand jury alleges she just skipped out on the whole federal tax-paying process.

If convicted, Dawson could face a maximum of 13 years in prison on the five charges.

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A state prosecutor told the Pulp in February that the Justice Department was still looking into Russell Klenet -- who allegedly told Mendelsohn how to hide money from the government, although he's been rumored to have federal immunity for his cooperation with the feds -- and Klenet's wife, Broward County Commissioner Stacy Ritter, as part of the ongoing investigation.